[GUIDE] Get back to HTC Stock ROM (from anything) [UNDER CONSTRUCTION]

Diaoul · Dec 7, 2010

Hi there,

This is a guide under construction that gather different ways to get (back) to HTC stock ROM from almost everything : branded ROM, custom ROM, ROOTed/S-OFFed/etc. DHD.

Whatever you do with your phone, I cannot be responsible for it. Don't blame me if you brick it. I'll try to keep this up to date.

How to read this ?
Colors :
This answer is known and working
This answer still needs some testing/feedback
This answer is probably wrong or untested, help me correcting it
Letters : This is a change of situation. Multiple case possible, choose your path and skip the others

Numbers : This is a step or a question, go through them one by one

Here we go for the GUIDE part :

I have never ROOTed/S-OFFed/Radio S-OFFed/CWMed my phone
In this case you have either a stock HTC ROM or a branded ROM (SFR/Vodaphone UK/T-Mobile/...)

1) How do I know that I have a branded ROM or an HTC stock ROM ?
HTC Stock ROMs are often up to date if you do all the OTAs so, update your phone OTA and check your version number, it should be the last one. Moreover, branded ROMs often have a custom boot screen (with awful logo) and custom (unremovable) apps.

1.A) I have DHD with stock ROM !
You have nothing to do in this thread then. Bye bye

1.B) Damn, I have a branded ROM...
Don't cry, we'll go through it together

1.B.1) Will RUUs work ?
Sometimes it will, sometimes it won't, the best thing to do is to try. The worst that could happen is... nothing.
Warning : At this point, if RUU works, you'll have a stock ROM on your HTC and you won't be able to go back to your branded ROM (except for T-Mobile phones as a RUU is available for them). No turning back ! Anyway, that shouldn't be a problem for warranty as RUUs are "public and official".

1.B.2) Why RUUs wouldn't work ?
HTC allow brands to put their own custom firmware that we call here a "branded ROM". Those include brand promotional items such as specific apps and boot screen. Plus, they have their specific OTA that could be on a very different schedule than official ones (from HTC). For this reason and to avoid county-specific (chineese) to be converted in WWE phones, HTC RUUs check for a specific number in your phone called CID. This CID tells if you can use RUUs and if yes, wich one (WWE, chineese, etc.)

1.B.3.a) RUU worked !
Lucky boy, we're done with you. Bye bye

1.B.3.b) RUU didn't work...
Please, hold you're tears, we're still not done here. (More to come)

1.B.3.b.1) Now you have a few solutions
The zip trick :This is a method that uses a test RUU (that doesn't check for the CID). Then you fake it replacing the test ROM by the one of your choice (here an official one). This method is described here but not tested on branded phone. This may not allow OTAs (need feedback).
ROOT & Radio S-OFF/SuperCID/Unlock your phone :By changing the Radio with this guide you will be allowed to flash all RUUs. No revert tool so far to restore the Radio but this is coming soon.

The F.A.Q. part :

1) Is that possible to find a stock ROM extracted from RUU without any cooking and flash it with CWM ?
Yes
2) Where can I find the zip to use with CWM ?
Here (link needed)

Glossary :
CWM or CM : ClockworkMod

Random stuff :
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=835595 : Maybe a way to flash a RUU without changing the CID ? Need confirmation
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=841890 : Same here
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=835595&page=4#edit9551194 : Working exemple without goldcard ?

Working on this thread... Any help is welcome

Please submit your questions/answers in this thread, i'll add them.
If giving answers, please, also give a source or guide (link) if possible and the color (green or orange, no red accepted as red cannot be trusted)

Diaoul · Dec 7, 2010

for later use

Diaoul · Dec 7, 2010

same as above

jkoljo · Dec 7, 2010

I can confirm that with Radio S-OFF it is possible to flash a RUU and get OTAs work. Everything will go back to stock except the Radio S-OFF, which will remain. If the device had also a bootloader S-OFF (ENG hboot), it will be replaced with the stock one.

If a device has only bootloader S-OFF, flashing a RUU is not recommended, as it will fail at version checking (because of no SuperCID). Eng bootloader has a higher version number than stock bootloader, and without Radio S-OFF the system will not allow downgrading.

Diaoul · Dec 7, 2010

jkoljo said:
I can confirm that with Radio S-OFF it is possible to flash a RUU and get OTAs work. Everything will go back to stock except the Radio S-OFF, which will remain. If the device had also a bootloader S-OFF (ENG hboot), it will be replaced with the stock one.

If a device has only bootloader S-OFF, flashing a RUU is not recommended, as it will fail at version checking (because of no SuperCID). Eng bootloader has a higher version number than stock bootloader, and without Radio S-OFF the system will not allow downgrading.

Is there a way to flash back the Radio S-OFF to the original one ? As far as I know, Radio S-OFF creates a backup of the partition it changes but I didn't see any tool that can change back this partition.
Edit: Seems I'm not the only one asking this question : http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=9642351&postcount=64

Also, when you say "not recommended" it's because it'll always fail or it has a little chance to fail ?
If you are S-OFF (not radio) there is no way to flash RUU again ? What about extracting the ROM from the RUU and flashing it with CWM ? same problem ?

Thanks

jkoljo · Dec 7, 2010

As stated in my Radio S-OFF thread somewhere in the last few pages (forum search is recommended), tools for Radio S-OFF removal are coming, but you just have to wait a bit longer. The backup that has been made is vital for the process, so do not lose it!

Not recommended, as it will most likely (probably always) fail. Without Radio S-OFF RUU is indeed not possible, unless you manually flash back the original bootloader using the original way of getting it in there (wpthis.ko + dd image). You would have to be in the stock ROM for that to work. Extracting a ROM should be possible, but I am not a ROM chef, so do not believe me

ivolol · Dec 7, 2010

See my thread here for how to extract the rom.zip [i.e: update.zip] out of an RUU. RUU will write practically all partitions, but won't overwrite a radio-set S-OFF (i.e done through radio, not through hboot)

Diaoul · Dec 7, 2010

ivolol said:
See my thread here for how to extract the rom.zip [i.e: update.zip] out of an RUU. RUU will write practically all partitions, but won't overwrite a radio-set S-OFF (i.e done through radio, not through hboot)

Thanks, will add this to the FAQ/GUIDE

Diaoul · Dec 7, 2010

ivolol said:
See my thread here for how to extract the rom.zip [i.e: update.zip] out of an RUU. RUU will write practically all partitions, but won't overwrite a radio-set S-OFF (i.e done through radio, not through hboot)

ivolol said:
note: This is mainly for stock phones, for vendor-derived ones (e.g Vodafone DHDs in Australia) you will also need a goldcard.

I understood that it'll wipe everything except Radio S-OFF but what if this is done (method A or B) with a vendor-derived DHD ? Will that work ? Why wouldn't it ? Will OTAs be possible ?

M_T_M · Dec 7, 2010

Thread re-open. Follow the OP's rules and suggestions please.

Cheers,

M_T_M

Jimmy Flip · Dec 15, 2010

jkoljo said:
As stated in my Radio S-OFF thread somewhere in the last few pages (forum search is recommended), tools for Radio S-OFF removal are coming, but you just have to wait a bit longer. The backup that has been made is vital for the process, so do not lose it!

Not recommended, as it will most likely (probably always) fail. Without Radio S-OFF RUU is indeed not possible, unless you manually flash back the original bootloader using the original way of getting it in there (wpthis.ko + dd image). You would have to be in the stock ROM for that to work. Extracting a ROM should be possible, but I am not a ROM chef, so do not believe me

Are there any issues with the wpthis.ko + dd image method to write the original hboot over the engineering? I've returned system, boot, recovery, etc. to their branded originals. I don't see why there would be a problem but just seeing if anyone's tried this.

The other option is 'fastboot flash hboot'. With this method, I'm not sure if I'd have to 'fastboot erase hboot' first and frankly doing that seems a bit risky because if the fastboot flash fails, you're really screwed.

jkoljo · Dec 15, 2010

No, dd can overwrite it just fine.

BUT I would do it like this (now that my tool can do radio s-on):

Radio S-OFF (if not already)
Run stock RUU
Do stock cid and radio s-on with my tool
And your device is stock.

Diaoul · Dec 15, 2010

jkoljo said:
No, dd can overwrite it just fine.

BUT I would do it like this (now that my tool can do radio s-on):

Radio S-OFF (if not already)
Run stock RUU
Do stock cid and radio s-on with my tool
And your device is stock.

I was thinking about this solution which works flawlessly it seems. I made this guide for ppl that wanted their HTC Stock for real and your tool wasn't able to S-ON ^^
Anyway, still missing the feature to restore the CID as it was BEFORE your tool makes radio S-OFF.
I follow your thread and so far, as I understood, there's a field where we can put the string we want but nothing to restore as it was before. Right ?

For ppl who want to restore to their branded ROM (if they made a backup with CWM) what do they have to do ?

My guess :
1) Root + Radio S-OFF
2) Remove S-OFF if any (not Radio S-OFF !) by flashing any RUU
3) Root again (as root is lost by flashing RUU)
4) Reinstall CWM
5) Now the phone is still S-OFF and SuperCID, right ?
6) Restore ROM via CWM (does this restore the S-OFF we had when we made the backup via CWM ?)
7) Remove S-OFF if still here (how ?)
8) Radio S-ON with the tool (with previous CID)
9) Done, happy branded stock ROM fully functional

Jimmy Flip · Dec 16, 2010

Diaoul said:
6) Restore ROM via CWM (does this restore the S-OFF we had when we made the backup via CWM ?)
7) Remove S-OFF if still here (how ?)
...
9) Done, happy branded stock ROM fully functional

6) CWM/Nandroid doesn't backup/restore hboot so we'll still have stock S-ON hboot from RUU.
7) See above
9) Except you still have CWM recovery as this would have been flashed when you made the ROM backup (either replace recovery.img in CWM backup with stock recovery before restoring? or overwrite with dd after?). Also, the ROM you restored might still be rooted (unroot with Visionary?).

Diaoul · Dec 16, 2010

dazweeja said:
6) CWM/Nandroid doesn't backup/restore hboot so we'll still have stock S-ON hboot from RUU.
7) See above
9) Except you still have CWM recovery as this would have been flashed when you made the ROM backup (either replace recovery.img in CWM backup with stock recovery before restoring? or overwrite with dd after?). Also, the ROM you restored might still be rooted (unroot with Visionary?).

As far as I understand, people with branded phones will still have the recovery from CWM. And, so far, no easy way to replace it.
It seems like a tool to do that would be welcome here. What do you think jkoljo?

jkoljo · Dec 16, 2010

Diaoul said:
My guess :
1) Root + Radio S-OFF
2) Remove S-OFF if any (not Radio S-OFF !) by flashing any RUU
3) Root again (as root is lost by flashing RUU)
4) Reinstall CWM
5) Now the phone is still S-OFF and SuperCID, right ?
- Yes
6) Restore ROM via CWM (does this restore the S-OFF we had when we made the backup via CWM ?)
- Does not restore s-off
7) Remove S-OFF if still here (how ?)
- Radio S-ON has to be removed, see next step
8) Radio S-ON with the tool (with previous CID)
9) Done, happy branded stock ROM fully functional
- You should do visionary remove permroot, then the system is full stock

If you have non branded device, my tool will automatically restore the stock cid. Otherwise a user has to check the cid from the bootloader himself before doing s-off.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

Diaoul · Dec 16, 2010

I'm testing all this stuff on my branded phone.

I started with a Rooted + S-OFFed DHD with AR 1.9 :
1) Radio S-OFF
2) RUU
3) Trying to temproot gets stuck on "rooting device, please wait"... Any clue ?

Edit : I grabed another copy of VISIONary here and it worked.
I had r14 before, downloaded r14 but files were slightly different in size... Anyway, package installation worked for both and I even successfully root my device with the first one long time ago. Weird

Jimmy Flip · Dec 17, 2010

Are you still radio S-OFF? In which case, do you need to root again? The Vision wiki says you only need radio S-OFF for permanent root:

"If you are only interested in permanent root you only need radio S-OFF"
http://xdaforums.com/wiki/index.php...cess_.28Permanent_Root_.2F_.22Permaroot.22.29

Maybe install Superuser.apk and busybox and then see if you can install ROM Manager/CWM.

Edit: Or try typing 'su' into a terminal app like ConnectBot or Terminal Emulator.

Walker Street · Dec 17, 2010

I've returned to the dark side with a stock Sense rom (instead of CyanogenMod), because I'd like to OTA update to HTC's gingerbread rom when it comes (hopefully soon).

I installed the signed HTC rom.

I'm not sure, but I think it's a good idea to follow the instructions for radio S-OFF, superCID and simunlock (from Apache14 himself: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=857444) before installing a signed rom.

The signed rom was courtesy of xmoo's thread: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=824357

Yes, there will be a CyanogenMod 7 based on Gingerbread probably soon after HTC releases their rom, and I'll be back then.

I still have root, Eng-Hboot and the official clockworkmod recovery installed. I re-installed eng-hboot and clockworkmod just to be sure, after installing the signed rom using the HTC installer

I believe that my carrier won't have anything to do with it (i.e. I won't need to wait for them to modify the Gingerbread rom), as I I'm using a plain brown HTC rom. Although someone could tell me I'm wrong.

Jimmy Flip · Dec 17, 2010

Walker Street said:
I've returned to the dark side with a stock Sense rom (instead of CyanogenMod), because I'd like to OTA update to HTC's gingerbread rom when it comes (hopefully soon).

You'll probably find that LeeDroid, Android Revolution, and the other ROMs which are based on the stock HTC ROM will be upgraded within a few days of the Gingerbread HTC ROM being released. I find those to be a little better than stock as they have a lot of the crap removed. I found LeeDroid very easy on the battery too.

I'm not sure, but I think it's a good idea to follow the instructions for radio S-OFF, superCID and simunlock (from Apache14 himself: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=857444) before installing a signed rom.

jkoljo's Windows program is a front-end for the same program that Apache14 uses (gfree) so you get the same result with less hassle.

I believe that my carrier won't have anything to do with it (i.e. I won't need to wait for them to modify the Gingerbread rom), as I I'm using a plain brown HTC rom. Although someone could tell me I'm wrong.

Yes, that's right. SuperCID will let you install any signed ROM. S-OFF will let you install any ROM at all.

The issue some of us are facing is trying to get back to an untouched branded ROM (for warranty purposes). It can be done a number of ways, just trying to discern the safest. I think it's probably:

1) Radio S-OFF
2) Flash RUU
3) Install CWM
4) Restore ROM via CWM
5) Restore original recovery with 'dd if=/sdcard/recovery.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p21'
6) Radio S-ON with the tool (with previous CID)
7) Done

I'm going to test this over the weekend.

[GUIDE] Get back to HTC Stock ROM (from anything) [UNDER CONSTRUCTION]

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Inactive Recognized Developer

Senior Member

Inactive Recognized Developer

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Troll King & Retired Señor Mod - I Regret Nothing!

Senior Member

Inactive Recognized Developer

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Inactive Recognized Developer

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Similar threads

Top Liked Posts